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Heart of Wisconsin

The music of Justin Vernon offers exhilarating evidence that the rural really are different, and not in the pickup-drivin’, flag-fetishizin’ way that sells in Nashville. Five years ago, following the breakups of his band and his relationship, Vernon retreated from North Carolina to his native Wisconsin. Snowbound in a rustic cabin for the winter—or so the story goes—he produced a collection of quasi-religious hymns to the terrible beauty of heartbreak, which he self-recorded under the name Bon Iver, an intentional bastardization of the French phrase bon hiver (good winter). Self-released in July 2007 and picked up the following spring by the Jagjaguwar label, For Emma, Forever Ago slowly made its way into the MP3 libraries of every indie-music fan alive, including Kanye West—who invited Vernon to add his AutoTune–enhanced falsetto to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy—and whoever put together the soundtrack for The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Vernon, meanwhile, has approached the project of a follow-up album with country-bred patience and perseverance, building a studio near his hometown, Eau Claire, and laboring over the songs like a craftsman over his lathe, until they felt as timeless as old-growth oak. “It was a discovery,” he says, “so it took a long time for the songs to appear, and then once they appeared it took a really long time to make them what they are.” While Bon Iver, due out June 21, features a full band and numerous guest contributions, it remains true to Vernon’s vision of “one simple action that seemed pretty self-centered—making an album that was truly an honest statement.”

Vernon, pictured here at King’s Highway restaurant at The Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, collaborated with Kanye West on “Lost in the World,” which appears on 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and was surprised by the hip-hop impresario’s eclectic tastes in music. “We talked about Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash. There was more than meets the eye with that dude.”

For Emma, Forever Ago was overwhelmingly sad, but while the new album isn’t exactly joyful, Vernon says it’s “one step closer to that. The middle step.”

Vernon, pictured here at King’s Highway restaurant at The Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, collaborated with Kanye West on “Lost in the World,” which appears on 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and was surprised by the hip-hop impresario’s eclectic tastes in music. “We talked about Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash. There was more than meets the eye with that dude.”

For Emma, Forever Ago was overwhelmingly sad, but while the new album isn’t exactly joyful, Vernon says it’s “one step closer to that. The middle step.”